Thursday, April 05, 2012

Less Fuss, More Flavor—and lots of garlic and fresh Greek oregano (recipe here).

"I tried your recipe for the slow roasted lamb and it is fantastic. I'll be making it again soon!"

"Absolutely delicious, I would cook it again and again. Coming from Australia, where roasts are a weekly meal for most families, we were still blown away by it. Thanks for the great recipe!"

You don't need a holiday to serve this healthy, flavorful, lemon- and oregano-infused leg of lamb dinner, but it's definitely worthy of a celebration. The recipe is here, and you can read more about it below.

I'm often asked if we eat any of the animals we raise here on the farm, and the answer is yes. We produce all natural, grass-fed lamb and beef for ourselves and others. To us, there is no better meat than that which comes from an animal you know enjoyed a happy, healthy, natural, dare I say spoiled? life.

Sadly, this is not how most of the meat animals in this country are raised. Giant, inhumane factory farms and horrid conditions abound. Local Harvest is an excellent resource for finding naturally and sustainably produced meat, vegetables, fruits, dairy products, and other foods in your area.

The Shelburne Farms' Children's Farmyard is an educational farm within the working farm, where visitors can milk a cow or goat, collect eggs, and learn how to carefully pick up a chicken, feed the animals, and maybe even witness a sow or a ewe giving birth.

The natural cycle of a farm also, undeniably, includes the other end of life. A poster on the wall of the Farmyard carefully explains the life of a Shelburne Farms lamb and finishes with a photograph of a beautifully plated dish from the Inn.

It is true that lambs are about as cute as food gets, and that makes some people uncomfortable, but, "we raise animals for human consumption here," says Sam Smith plainly, a farmer and educator at Shelburne Farms [a 1,400-acre nonprofit environmental education center, working farm, Inn, and National Historic Landmark]. "People need to recognize where their food is coming from."

It is most important to Sam—and to Shelburne Farms—that the flock be managed to the highest environmental and humane standards, leaving the animals on pasture and the lambs with their mothers as long as possible.

"I raise them in the best way that I can, and I try to educate people," Sam says. "You can't force people to do anything, but you can educate them. And I think the farmyard is probably the best place in the world to educate people about what they're eating."

(You can read my rave review of Cooking with Shelburne Farms, which includes a fabulous recipe from the book for grilled lamb burgers with roasted red pepper, parsley, and kalamata olive relish here.)

We're proud of the animals we raise, and when we sit down to a beautiful meal like this, or when our customers tell us our lamb is the best they've ever tasted—and that two "I don't eat lamb" people they served it to went home with leftovers—we know that all of our hard work is worth it.

The chunks of roasted lemon and creamy cloves of garlic are addicting, and braising the (optional) Swiss chard and raisins in the roasting pan juices for ten minutes while the meat rests gives you a ridiculously tasty side dish.

With this method, the meat is cooked until extremely well done, but in a really good way. It comes apart with a fork, is sort of 'dry' like barbecue, and the texture is similar to my Slow Cooked Dutch Oven Lamb Shanks or Shoulder Roasts, only with some crunchy edges (which I think are the best part). The cooking time is also fairly flexible—which can come in quite handy—and it's pretty much impossible to overcook.

Unlike traditional roasted leg of lamb recipes, this one cooks for several hours, but the actual prep work is minimal—and the entire meal uses just one big pan. If you happen to have any leftovers, they taste even better the next day.

How's this for annoying? We don't have any lamb left for Easter dinner this year. The two lambs we kept for ourselves last fall are all gone, because apparently we are gluttons. The MiL mentioned buying a leg of lamb for Easter, but come on. BUY lamb? Us? Please. We're having prime rib instead.

I absolutely love your blog. I decided not to eat meat a year ago, but I respect people who make a conscious effort to be connected to their food. I am saddened to read about large abbattoirs buying up smaller businesses both in the USA and here in Canada. I guess my only hope for organic farmers like yourselves is that you are able to slaughter your animals in a humane way. Will never forget the tears I shed reading about a poor farmer having to watch his flock go onto a truck to god knows where because that was the only choice he had. My partner grew up helping his uncle on a farm in Ireland and they had someone come to the farm to take care of this, one by one, in a way that minimized the stress of the animals. God bless small scale, organic farmers :)

Oh, what a beautiful Easter meal idea, thank you. Where I live at the moment (in the Greek neighbourhood), it is traditional to have lamb, and I love that I got this recipe from you! I am still so happy to have learned how to make pizza from your site, and am one of the people who got a pizza stone because of your recommendation :)Wishing you a wonderful Easter.

December 2015 update: Hi! For some reason I can't figure out, Blogger hasn't been letting me leave comments on my own blog (!) for the last several months, so I've been unable to respond to your comments and questions. My apologies for any inconvenience! You're always welcome to email me: farmgirlfare AT gmail DOT com.

Hi! Thanks for visiting Farmgirl Fare and taking the time to write. While I'm not always able to reply to every comment, I receive and enjoy reading them all.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated, and I especially love hearing about your experiences with my recipes. Comments on older posts are always welcome!

Please note that I moderate comments, so if I'm away from the computer it may be a while before yours appears.

I try my best to answer all questions, though sometimes it takes me a few days. And sometimes, I'm sorry to say, they fall through the cracks, and for that I sincerely apologize.

I look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy your e-visits to our farm!